Floating mats

max_ebb · May 5, 2007

I'm going to have some prints dry mounted on mat board and then use floating mats (mats with the inside cut-out larger than the print size).

Has anybody done this using white (or slightly off white) mats? If the mat is slightly off white, would you use regular white mat board to mount the print, or would you mount on mat board that matches the outside mat?

Also, for 20x24 prints, what would be a good amount of space to leave between the print and the outside mat? I don't know if 1/2 inch or 1 inch would look better. Would one be considered more standard than the other?

Thanks in advance.

percepts · May 5, 2007

I leave just 1cm and 2cm at bottom and sign in the bottom so that signature is on the mount board and not the mat. I also use the same board for mount and mat. 3 to 4 inches usually looks fine for mat border width but this depends on the width of the frame as well as personal preference.

Your best option is to draw some mounts with windows etc which are done to scale using a graphics program. That will give you a very good idea of what finished article will look like. Then draw frames of differing widths around them to see the difference it makes.

There are no hard and fast rules to doing this except doing it so it looks right.

Sparky · May 5, 2007

I do this all the time. Pay attention (!) to the matte colour. It makes a huge difference in how you see the highlights of the print. Also - it can make the print look really bad (low quality) if you don't use the right colour.

Jordan.K · May 5, 2007

Whiter the mat board the better. Always looks best. As far as floating the mat and the distance from the window to the bordar of the image, I would say not much more than a half all around and a tiny bit more on the bottom for your signature.

Allen Friday · May 5, 2007

I always use the same color for both the mount and matt--brilliant white in my case. I leave 11mm on the sides and top and 14mm on the bottom for the window matt.

Sparky · May 5, 2007

Allen Friday said:
I always use the same color for both the mount and matt--brilliant white in my case. I leave 11mm on the sides and top and 14mm on the bottom for the window matt.

Initial disclaimer: Sorry - I seem to be argumentative today..!

Yes- I'm sure you do... but don't you think that's sort of meaningless advice without suggesting the geometric relationship to the work being framed/matted? Surely those sizes look good (to you) at a specific size?? What if the piece is a 40"x60" image?

jstraw · May 6, 2007

Sparky said:
Initial disclaimer: Sorry - I seem to be argumentative today..!

Yes- I'm sure you do... but don't you think that's sort of meaningless advice without suggesting the geometric relationship to the work being framed/matted? Surely those sizes look good (to you) at a specific size?? What if the piece is a 40"x60" image?

I think the size of the "float" can be a constant.

Whether or not the size of the mat itself ought to be the same for all sizes of prints is harder to say. It's an aesthetic choice. I previously used 11x14 for 8x10 and smaller prints and 16x20 for 11x14 down to 8x10. Lately I'm thinking that a show all hung in 16x20 frames might look better.

I have a 4x5 contact printed pinhole/platinum that was mounted 16x20 and all that border looks great.

David Brown · May 6, 2007

max_ebb said:
Would one be considered more standard than the other?

I'll probably be corrected but I don't think there's a "standard".

All of your questions, though valid, will have subjective answers. So, do what you want to do as long as it look good to you!

Scott Peters · May 6, 2007

Great input, a couple of suggestions. You may want to search on Michael and Paulas website for mounting. they have a nice simple method for floating.

My biggest complaint about matting is UNDER matting..i.e. too small of a mat for the print will imo diminish the print. My preference is to overmat the print. i.e. larger the better, without going too crazy...but I have seen 4 x 5 contacts in a 16 x 20 and they can look stunning. I like 16 x 18 or 16 x 20 for 8 x 10's. For my 7 x 17 contacts, I use 14 x 22 mat. The whiter the better. And you can use 2 ply to save money for showing prints. 4 ply for when you sell the print.

matthewbetcher · May 6, 2007

definitely as has been prescribed... keep the under and over-mat the same color! - whether it's pure white or warmer white (i prefer the warmer actually as i think a lot of black and white looks great on creamier mats).

the question i have though is why are you mounting the photograph if you intend to float it? the whole reason to float pieces whether prints or photographs is to 1. show an interesting edge to the paper such as a deckle; 2. show the entire image of a piece that extends completely to the edge of the paper where matting would come over and hide and/or 3. to show the piece "for what it is" - including all the imperfections to the substrate (the piece is then received more "sculpturally" then as the image is and has to be considered along with the material printed on).

if you are mounting the photograph flat on a mat board because you don't like the slight uneven-ness to the paper, it seems like floating it becomes a slight bit redundant. in my humble opinion in framing countless pieces for museums and galleries i would do one or the other (and i think any other gallery framer would tell you the same...) either float the print unmounted using archival hinges or mount it flat but then mat into the image.

... of course, i can always imagine the exceptions where a treatment like this (both mounting AND floating) is critical to the reception of the piece as a whole...

jstraw · May 6, 2007

deckle?

Allen Friday · May 6, 2007

Sparky said:
Initial disclaimer: Sorry - I seem to be argumentative today..!

Yes- I'm sure you do... but don't you think that's sort of meaningless advice without suggesting the geometric relationship to the work being framed/matted? Surely those sizes look good (to you) at a specific size?? What if the piece is a 40"x60" image?

I use the 11 mm top and sides and 14 mm bottom for all my prints, regardless of size. I use it for 4x5 contact prints to 20x24 enlargments and contacts. Sorry, I have never matte a 40x60 image, so I don't know if it would look good at that size. But it works fine for the other sizes.

percepts · May 6, 2007

jstraw said:
deckle?

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=deckle edge

Sparky · May 6, 2007

percepts said:
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=deckle edge

I think Jstraw was trying to ask if the rebate was being left there to show the deckling (but - of course - only HE can answer that!)

jstraw · May 6, 2007

I didn't know what "deckle" meant.

Sparky · May 6, 2007

Vaughn · May 6, 2007

Normally, the same color mat for front and back.

I like a natural white for alternative (warm) prints -- bright white for silver prints.

For 16x20 silver prints on 24x28, I use 1/2 inch on 3 sides, 3/4 inch for the bottom. I suppose that would also work well for a 20x24 print, but one might want to try 3/4 for 3 sides and 1" for the bottom...but an inch all the way round is sounding a little too much.

I also like using graph paper to draw the presentation to scale to check out how the proportions look.

Vaughn

max_ebb · May 21, 2007

Thanks for all the responses. I think I'll go with 1/2" all the way around, and 28x32 outside dimensions. That will give me a 3 1/2" - 4" wide mat, depending on how much of the print I trim off.

jstraw · May 21, 2007

Most people put more mat below the image than above it so that the print is above center, vertically.

Floating mats

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